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Modern  Methods 


In  the 


Country  Church 


THE    NEW    CHURCH    BUILDING 


By 

Matthew  Brown   McNutt 


Modern    Methods 
In    The    Country    Church 

An  address  delivered  before  the 

McCormick  Seminary 

Alumni  Association 

April  28,   1910 
MATTHEW  BROWN   McNUTT 

Pastor  of  the 

DuPAGE    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH 

PLAINFIELD,  ILLINOIS 


R.  F.   D.  No.  4 


The  Board  of  Home  Missions 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

156  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York. 
1911 


Copyright  1911 

by 

Young  People's  Missionary  Movement 

of  the 

United  States  and  Canada 


MODERN  METHODS  IN  THE 
COUNTRY  CHURCH 

Mr.  President,  Fellow  Alumni  and 
Brethren : 

More  than  half  the  people  of  our  great 
nation  still  live  in  the  country.  And  until 
some  short  cut  is  discovered  for  producing 
food  the  agricultural  regions  will  continue 
to  be  peopled.  These  millions  must  be 
supplied  with  the  Bread  of  Life.  The 
country  church,  therefore,  has  and  will 
have  a  mision  for  years  to  come. 

The  methods  employed  in  the  country 
churches  to-day  are,  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  either  those  transplanted  from  the 
town  and  the  city  or  they  are  methods  that 
were  in  use  fifty  years  ago — the  one  class 
of  methods  is  as  ill  adapted  to  the  modern 
needs  of  the  country  as  the  other. 

Perhaps  the  country  church  of  the  past 
was  all  that  was  needed  in  its  day  or  was  as 
good  as  the  country  people  could  then  af- 
ford. But  the  new  era  of  scientific  farm- 
ing and  the  introduction  of  the  modern 
comforts  and  conveniences  into  the  country 
homes  have  brought  a  new  demand  for 
and  made  possible  better  things  for  the 
rural  churches. 

What  the  country  church  needs  is  to 
work  out  its  own  problems  from  the  coun- 
try point  of  view.     It  needs  to  devise  ap- 

5 


propriate  methods  and  to  evolve  anci  build 
up  a  type  of  life  fitting  into  the  needs  of 
the  country  people  as  we  find  them  to-day. 

A  great  deal  depends  upon  the  methods 
employed  in  doing  any  kind  of  work  suc- 
cessfully, though  the  mode  and  manner 
has  not  everything  to  do  with  it.  I  am 
not  a  crank  on  methods.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  without  God  we  "can  do  noth- 
ing," no  matter  how  good  the  methods. 
However,  without  placing  any  limitations 
on  the  Almighty,  I  believe  that  God  can 
dispense  his  grace  more  advantageously 
and  effectively  through  common  sense 
methods  and  a  first-class  equipment  than 
he  can  through  slipshod  methods  and  a 
poor  equipment.  He  can  and  does  some- 
times use  the  weak  and  foolish  things,  but 
he  certainly  does  not  prefer  weak  and'  fool- 
ish things  to  serve  him  rather  than  the 
strong  and  wise. 

The  Jews  brought  to  the  altar  of  sac- 
rifice the  firstlings  of  the  flock — that  which 
was  without  spot  and  without  blemish — 
and  the  custom  was  significant.  It  teaches 
us  that  all  church  work  should  proceed  on 
the  principle  that  nothing  is  too  good  for 
service  in  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  From 
nothing,  nothing  comes,  is  as  true  in  the 
kingdom  of  grace  as  it  is  anywhere  else. 
It  has   been  said  that  "Order  is   heaven's 


first  law."  If  that  is  true,  then,  if  earth 
is  to  become  heavenly,  the  business  of 
earth  must  be  done  "decently  and  in  order." 
The  country  church  has  yet  to  learn  the 
value  of  modern  methods  and  the  superior 
advantage  of  a  first-class  equipment. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  can  serve  you  any 
better  to-day,  than  to  tell  you  of  some  ex- 
periments which  I  have  been  conducting  in 
a  country  church  the  last  ten  years.  And 
I  hope  I  can  do  it  modestly  without  seem- 
ing to  exploit  myself.  So  many  men  deal 
in  generalities  in  speaking  and  writing  on 
the  country  church  that  it  may  be  refresh- 
ing to  you  to  hear  a  description  of  some 
country  methods  in  actual  operation. 


THE    OLD    CHURCH    BUILDING 

Ten  years  ago  last  spring  I  went  directly 
from    McCormick    Seminary   to    Du    Page 

7 


Church — a  country  field  thirty  miles  west 
of  Chicago  and  six  miles  from  the  nearest 
railroad.  It  is  surrounded  by  no  town  or 
village ; — the  church  and  manse  stand  alone 
on  the  open  prairie. 

It  is  one  of  the  oldest  churches  in  Illinois. 
The  people  are  an  average  country  folk  of 
Scotch,  English,  Irish,  and  German  descent. 
The  congregation  was  then  worshipping  in 
a  frame  structure  built  half  a  century  be- 
fore. It  was  the  old  type  of  church  archi- 
tecture— one  room,  boxy,  straight  board 
seats,  small  plain  glass  windows  and  with 
scarcely  any  furnishings. 

The  church  and  manse  lots,  enclosed 
by  the  remnant  of  a  wire  fence,  were  veri- 
table weed  patches.  North  of  the  church 
stood  some  old  tumble-down  sheds,  the 
sight  of  which  made  every  passer-by  shud- 
der and  think  to  himself,  "Surely  the  Lord 
hath  deserted  this  place."  The  manse 
had  the  same  neglected  appearance  and 
everything  about  the  place  reminded  one 
of  a  man  who  had  gone  away  on  a  long 
journey  and  had  forgotten  to  leave  any  one 
in  care  of  his  abode. 

One  of  the  elders,  a  farmer,  had  been 
preaching  for  three  years,  or  until  he  died. 
The  last  minister  had  resigned  with  $400 
back  on  his  salary,  which  amount  the  church 
borrowed  to  pay  the  debt. 


No  one  had  united  with  the  church  for 
five  years.  A  club  house  has  been  fitted 
up  in  the  neighborhood  to  house  an  organi- 
zation that  called  itself  "The  New  Era 
Club,"  but  whose  chief  object  and  amuse- 
ment turned  out  to  be  dancing,  though  its 
original  promoters  had  hoped  for  it  some- 
thing better.  Many  of  the  young  people 
of  the  neighborhood,  including  church 
members,  were  spending  evenings  there. 
The  dancing  element  from  the  surround- 
ing towns  had  also  begun  to  frequent  the 
place.  ! 

The  only  service  the  church  attempted 
was  to  open  the  doors  on  Sunday  for  preach- 
ing  and  Sunday-school.  Collections  were 
taken  once  a  year  each  for  missions  and 
ministerial  relief,  and  this  was  practically 
the  extent  of  the  benevolent  work. 

Two-thirds  of  the  Sunday-school  teach- 
ers were  members  of  one  family.  The 
three  elders  were  also  trustees,  and  each 
taught  a  class  in  the  Sunday-school.  One 
of  these  elders  was  also  a  Sunday-school 
superintendent,  Sunday-school  treasurer, 
church  treasurer/ and  treasurer  of  benevo- 
lences. 

All  this  very  discouraging  situation 
existed  in  the  midst  of  a  thrifty  and  pros- 
perous community  where  the  public  roads 
are  paved  with  gravel,   with  free  delivery 

9 


mail,  good  substantial  houses  and  barns, 
thoroughbred  cattle  and  all  the  modern 
farm  machinery  in  the  market. 

This  run-down  condition  of  the  church 
was  not  a  reflection  upon  the  Church  people 
of  the  community  nor  upon  those  entrusted 
with  the  leadership  at  that  time.  They 
were  good,  earnest,  conscientious  men  and 
women.  No  one  knew  better  than  they 
that;  the  affairs  of  the  church  were  not 
going  well  and  none  deplored  more  than 
they  the  sad  and  apparently  hopeless  situa- 
tion. Had  they  not  been  of  the  right  kind 
of  stuff  the  church  would  doubtless  have 
disbanded  years  ago,  as  many  such  churches 
have  done.  None  were  more  anxious  than 
the  Du  Page  people  that  the  church  should 
grow  and  prosper,  and  as  a  rule  they  have 
been  ready  and  willing  to  adopt  the  new 
plans  and  methods,  and  are  still  among  the 
most  loyal  and  efficient  workers. 

The  condition  of  this  church  at  that 
time  was  not  exceptional.  Other  country 
churches  were  and  are,  still,  in  the  same 
plight.  Some  people  were  saying  the 
country  church  has  outlived  its  usefulness, 
and  that  was  and  is  true  of  the  old  type  of 
country  church.  Many  such  have  given 
up  in  despair  and  disbanded.  Many  others 
still  exist  at  the  same  dying  rate.  What 
was  the  matter  with  this  country  church? 

10 


What  is  the  matter  with  that  type  of 
country  church?  My  diagnosis  of  the 
case  is,  simply,  a  lack  of  vision,  and  the 
want  of  adaptation  to  the  new  needs. 

The  Scotch  elder  that  was  preaching  at 
Du  Page  was  a  very  good  preacher,  they 
said,  an  able  Bible  scholar,  and  a  man  of 
rare  and  charming  personality.  His  pred- 
ecessor was  a  good  preacher  too,  accord- 
ing to  reports,  but  the  methods  of  both  were 
inadequate.  There  are  many  good  preach- 
ers failing  in  the  country  to-day  for  the 
same  reason.  They  lack  adequate  con- 
ception of  the  needs,  they  fail  to  see  the 
possibilities  of  country  life. 

There  was  a  time  when  preaching  and 
an  occasional  pastoral  visit  was  all  that 
was  demanded  of  the  country  parson,  and 
the  people  were  thought  to  perform  their 
part  when  they  went  to  church  and  paid 
the  minister's  salary.  But  it  is  not  so 
now.    What  was  to  be  done  ? 

Jesus,  the  Head  of  the  Church,  once 
said,  "I  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto, 
but  to  minister."  Believing,  therefore, 
that  he  intended  his  church  to  be  a  minis- 
tering church,  I  began  at  Du  Page  with  the 
idea  that  religion  has  to  do  with  the  whole 
man — body,  mind,  and  spirit ;  that  it  deeply 
concerns   his  social  life,   his  business   life, 

11 


his  education,  his  amusement,  and  every- 
thing else  that  pertains  to  man's  well-being. 
I  was  brought  up  in  a  country  church 
and  the  idea  I  got  of  it  in  my  boyhood  was 
that  the  church  is  a  sort  of  a  Sunday  affair, 
which  dealt  exclusively  with  men's  souls 
and  good  clothes.  It  was  also  a  place  of 
long  faces,  for  if  there  was  any  hilarity 
among  the  boys  at  "meetin",  we  could  al- 
ways depend  upon  the  hazel  brush  being 
brought  out  when  we  got  home ;  a  place 
where  dead  men's  bodies  were  carried,  as 
the  funerals  were  invariably  held  in  the 
church.  Well  do  I  remember  also  how  fear- 
ful I  was  of  the  preacher,  when,  clad  in  his 
long  black  broadcloth  coat,  he  would  make 
his  annual  visits  to  our  home.  Two  men  I 
greatly  feared  in  those  days.  One  was  Mr. 
Matteer,  the  preacher,  and  the  other  Mr. 
Turney,  the  butcher.  As  boys  and  young 
men  we  never  associated  our  good  times 
with  the  church  or  the  minister — except 
the  annual  union  Sunday-school  picnic 
which  was  really  a  delightful  occasion.  The 
church  did  not  seem  to  have  much  to  do 
with  our  daily  lives,  or  our  occupations 
and  amusements.  It  demanded  nothing 
of  us,  apparently,  but  to  go  to  church  and 
sit  still.  Our  companionships  were  out- 
side of  and  independent  of  the  church.  It 
was  the  day  of  the  husking-bees,  the  apple- 

12 


cuttings,  the  sugaring-offs  and  all  those 
most  delightful,  wholesome,  and  interesting 
neighborhood  pastimes  in  which  old  and 
young  alike  engaged  with  such  pleasure  and 
profit.  What  a  pity  they  have  gone  out  of 
date  !  It  was  before  the  day  of  commercial- 
ized pastimes, — the  amusement  parks,  the 
public  dance  halls,  the  cheap  vaudevilles 
and  the  like.  It  is  alarming  how  rapidly 
these  modern  creatures  are  creeping  in  upon 
the  country  people  in  these  days  of  the 
trolley,  the  automobile,  and  the  horse  and 
buggy  which  every  young  man  on  the  farm 
now  possesses — even  the  hired  men.  It  is 
far  easier  now  for  the  country  people  to  get 
into  the  world  current  than  it  was  forty 
years  ago. 

But  coming  back  to  the  old  type  of 
country  church,  it  did  not  seem  to  offer  us 
much  but  a  long,  dry  sermon  on  Sunday — 
and  it  was.  dry  to  the  boys  and  girls, — 
hard,  straight-backed  seats,  a  book  from  the 
Sunday-school  library  in  which  the  good 
boy  and  girl  always  died  and  went  to 
heaven,  and  those  delightful  annual  visits 
by  the  pastor ! 

Now,  I  love  that  dear  old  country 
church  of  my  boyhood  days,  back  in  the 
hills  of  Pennsylvania,  and  I  like  to  think 
that  it  did  me  a  great  deal  more  good  than 
I   realized   either   then  or  now.      It  might 

13 


have  done  worse.  And  it  is  furthest  from 
my  purpose  to  speak  disparagingly  of  it 
or  of  the  dear  people  who  were  its  leaders. 
I  love  them  every  one.  It  perhaps  served 
its  day.  But  the  point  I  am  making  is  that 
that  type  of  country  church  will  not  meet 
the  needs  of  the  country  people  to-day. 

With  these  recollections  of  my  child- 
hood and  the  church,  I  resolved  first  of  all, 
when  I  went  to  Du  Page,  that  I  would  get 
next  to  the  boys  and  girls ;  that  I  would 
make  that  old  church  a  great  center  of  at- 
traction. Notice  I  did  not  say  the  great 
center.  I  do  not  believe  in  the  church  at- 
tempting to  do  everything  or  trying  to  do 
things  that  might  better  be  left  to  other 
institutions.  But  I  would  make  it  a  great 
center  of  attraction;  a  hub  of  joys,  of 
happy  memories  and  associations  for  that 
entire  community.  I  determined,  with 
God's  help,  to  make  it  an  indispensable 
institution  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child 
within  its  reach. 

One  of  the  good  old  Scotch  elders,  they 
called  him  "Uncle  Dan," — one  of  the  dear- 
est and  best  of  men — put  his  arm  around 
me  one  day,  it  was  a  way  he  had  of  greeting 
everybody,  and  he  said  very  seriously,  the 
tears  rolling  down  his  cheeks,  "Our  young 
people   have  got  to   dancing  and  they  are 

14 


being  wooed  away  from  God  and  the  church. 
How  are  you  going  to  deal  with  them?" 

I  said,  "Uncle  Dan,  I  know  from  ex- 
perience that  young  people  will  dance  if 
they  have  nothing  better  to  do.  I  propose 
to  give  them  something  better." 

"Well,"  he  continued,  "just  before  you 
came  here  our  session  passed  a  rule  that 
there  wTas  to  be  no  dancing  by  members  of 
the  Church,  but  I  fear  there  is  going  to  be 
trouble  when  we  come  to  enforce  it." 

I  replied  again,  "Uncle  Dan,  it  is  im- 
possible to  shut  off  a  stream  entirely  unless 
you  give  it  some  other  outlet." 

I  set  to  work,  first,  and  organized  an 
old-fashioned  singing  school.  It  might 
have  been  anything  else  just  as  well — a 
class  in  scientific  farming,  annual  husban- 
dry, domestic  science,  or  nature  study.  I 
chose  the  singing-school  because  I  had 
some  knowledge  of  music.  The  idea  is  to 
have  something  that  will  afford  a  point  of 
contact  between  the  leader  and  the  people, 
and  also  to  get  everybody  interested  in 
doing  something.  The  singing-school  met 
one  night  in  the  week,  in  the  church.  There 
was  some  good  musical  talent  among  the 
young  folks  and  this  new  enterprise  proved 
to  be  a  great  hit.  Out  of  it  grew  a  good 
strong  chorus  choir,  a  male  quartet,  a 
ladies'    quartet,    an    orchestra,    and    some 

15 


good  soloists.  Besides,  it  improved  the 
singing  in  the  church  and  Sunday-school  a 
hundred  per  cent. 

We  began  at  once  to  observe  all  the 
special  days — a  dozen  or  more.  This  kept 
our  musicians  busy.  And  the  first  thing 
we  knew  the  young  people  and  many  of  the 
"outsiders,"  as  they  were  called,  were  tak- 
ing part  in  these  special  services.  They 
just  couldn't  keep  out.  And,  of  course, 
the  fathers  and  mothers  had  come  to  hear 
their  children  sing  and  play  and  speak,  and 
likewise  the  doting  grandparents,  and  the 
uncles  and  aunts  and  cousins  and  sweet- 
hearts all  had  to  come. 

Next  we  started  what  we  called  a  gospel 
chorus.  We  got  some  live  new  song-books 
and  went  singing  around  from  home  to 
home.  At  first  some  of  the  people  were  a 
little  shy  of  the  gospel  chorus,  but  soon 
they  were  vying  with  each  other  to  see  who 
would  secure  these  singers.  The  chorus 
went  to  the  homes  of  the  aged  who  were 
too  feeble  to  come  to  the  meeting-house. 
It  sang  for  the  sick.  It  sang  in  the  homes 
of  those  who  never  heard  any  other  music. 

An  athletic  association  already  existed. 
We  encouraged  the  boys  in  their  field-day 
sports.  Two  or  three  baseball  teams  were 
organized.  We  played  successfully  many  of 
the   surrounding  towns  including   Chicago. 

16 


We  never  challenged  the  Cubs  but  we  did 
challenge  a  team  from  The  Fullerton 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  Chicago,  and 
beat  them  on  our  grounds  one  Fourth  of 
July,  20  to  o.  The  pastor  of  the 
church  had  come  along  with  his  boys, 
and  he  kept  insisting  that  we  must  have 
some  professional  players  from  outside, 
but  they  were  just  the  husky  farmer  lads. 

The  church  building  was  not  suited  for 
social  gatherings,  so  a  series  of  sociables 
was  planned  at  the  different  homes.  These 
were  not  the  money-making  kind ;  they 
were  sociables  indeed.  The  older  people 
often  attended  and  engaged  in  the  play 
with  the  young  folks.  Refreshments 
were  served  free.  At  these  gatherings 
special  attention  was  given  to  strangers  and 
to  the  backward  boys  and  girls,  and  a  few 
of  us  always  had  upon  our  hearts  those  who 
were  not  of  the  fold  of  Christ.  They  grew 
to  be  a  sociable  lot  of  folks,  I  tell  you ! 
They  became  well  acquainted.  And  such 
fellowship !  Such  friendships !  Such 
companionships  !  And  all  centering  around 
the  church. 

The  women  of  the  parish  had  long  had  a 
missionary  society.  One  of  the  mothers 
said  to  me  one  day,  "Pastor,  don't  you 
think  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if  we  had 
some  kind  of  a  little  social  circle  for  our 

17 


girls?  They  are  just  aching  for  something 
to  do."  I  said,  "Yes,  let  us  have  it."  She 
invited  them  to  her  home  one  afternoon 
and  nine  responded.  They  had  a  delightful 
time  and  they  called  themselves  "The 
Girls'  Mission  Band,"  deciding  to  meet 
thereafter  once  a  month.  In  these  little 
gatherings  were  combined  the  devotional, 
social,  educational  work,  and  club  fea- 
tures. After  the  program  they  would  sew 
and  make  garments  for  the  poor  in  the  city. 
A  meal  is  always  served  at  these  meetings 
by  the  hostess.  The  "Band"  grew  and  so 
did  the  girls.  When  they  became  women 
they  changed  the  name  of  the  Band  to  "The 
Young  Women's  Missionary  Society," 
which  now  has  nearly  forty  members.  As 
the  young  women  marry,  they  are  trans- 
ferred to  the  Women's  Society. 

A  similar  work  was  begun  for  the  young 
men.  It  is  simply  the  young  men's  class 
in  the  Sunday-school  organized,  and  is 
called  "The  Young  Men's  Bible  Class." 
It  has  upwards  of  fifty  members.  This 
class  meets  every  Sunday  morning  with 
the  Sunday-school  for  Bible  study  and  is 
taught  by  the  pastor.  Besides,  it  meets 
the  first  Tuesday  of  each  month  for  fellow- 
ship, fun,  business,  devotions,  and  for 
literary  and  social  purposes.  Much  has 
to  be  combined  in  one  meeting,  because  it 

18 


is  difficult  for  people  to  get  together  very 
often  in  this   country. 

This  class,  and  the  Young  Women's 
Class  have  become  the  strong  right  arm  of 
the  church.  We  are  now  selecting  our 
teachers  and  officers  for  the  Sunday-school 
and  church  from  them. 

The  young  men  conduct  a  lecture 
course,  not  for  pecuniary  profit,  but  for 
the  sole  and  only  purpose  of  furnishing 
wholesome  entertainment  for  the  com- 
munity. We  have  had  some  hundred-dol- 
lar attractions.  The  entire  community 
patronize  this  lecture  course  without  ex- 
ception and  regardless  of  creed.  The 
Catholics  and  the  German  Lutherans  at- 
tend. People  from  the  surrounding  towns 
are  frequently  seen  in  the  audiences,  driv- 
ing sometimes  ten  miles  or  more. 

Another  enterprise  which  the  young 
men's  Bible  class  has  introduced  and  sup- 
ported is  a  bureau  of  publicity.  The  boys 
invested  in  a  small  printing-press.  They, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  pastor,  do  all 
the  church  printing  and  issue  a  local  church 
paper. 

This  class  has  developed  some  very  good 
speakers  and  singers.  Under  its  auspices 
open-air  gospel  and  song  services  are  held 
in  a  grove  in  the  summer-time  and  in  the 
public     schoolhouses     in     winter.       These 

19 


meetings  have  been  a  great  blessing  to  the 
young  men  as  well  as  to  those  to  whom 
they  minister.  In  the  pastor's  absence  on 
Sunday  his  Bible  class  has  frequently  taken 
charge  of  the  service,  three  of  four  of  them 
giving  short  gospel  talks. 

You  are  wondering  what  became  of  the 
dancing?  Well,  they  forgot  all  about  it  in 
about  two  years,  and  there  has  not  been  a 
dance  in  the  New  Era  Hall  for  over  eight 
years.  The  building  stands  idle  and  is 
crumbling  to  ruin.  The  pastor  never 
mentioned  dancing  in  the  pulpit  or  to  a 
single  individual  in  private.  It  was  simply 
starved  out. 

Our  Sunday-school  is  well  organized  and 
graded  and  has  three  hundred  members  in- 
cluding the  Cradle  Roll  and  the  Home  De- 
partment. 

The  pledge  system  of  finance  has  been 
introduced  for  the  local  work  and  for  ben- 
evolences as  well.  Our  ideal  is  a  pledge 
from  every  man,  woman,  and  child.  We 
have  devised  an  envelope  for  making  pay- 
ments which  answers  all  purposes.  A 
financial  secretary  keeps  an  account  with 
each  individual  and  sends  statements  at 
the  end  of  each  quarter  if  necessary.  We 
have  found  that  the  pledge  system  is  a 
great  improvement  over  the  old  way  of 
taking    collections    once    a    year    for    the 

20 


"Boards."  This  church  in  the  last  ten 
years,  in  addition  to  building  a  $10,000 
edifice,  remodeling  the  manse,  making  other 
improvements,  and  increasing  the  minister's 
salary  forty  per  cent.,  has  given  to  benevo- 
lences $5,270,  as  against  $6,407  in  the  fifty 
years  preceding. 

As  a  rule  the  various  societies  in  the 
church  are  not  made  money-raising  insti- 
tutions. The  system  for  raising  money  by 
sociables,  fairs,  and  other  devices  has  been 
almost  entirely  abolished. 

As  an  ideal  we  are  working  toward  the 
entire  support,  ourselves,  of  both  a  home 
and   foreign  missionary. 

The  Sunday-school  and  the  morning 
preaching  service  are  the  only  meetings 
held  on  Sunday.  A  Sunday  evening  ser- 
vice is  not  adapted  to  the  conditions  in 
this  community  at  the  present  time,  and 
we  do  not  attempt  it  except  on  special 
occasions.  Nor  is  there  a  mid-week  ser- 
vice held  for  the  same  reason. 

The  cottage  prayer-meeting  is  the  best 
for  the  country,  dividing  the  parish  into 
groups  of  twelve  or  fifteen  members  each, 
all  the  groups  meeting  on  the  same  evening 
and  each  having  its  own  leader,  organist, 
and  chorister.  The  leaders  may  form  the 
pastor's    cabinet.      The    various    business 

21 


plans  of  the  church  may  be  talked  over  at 
these  meetings. 

There  have  been  no  evangelistic  ser- 
vices in  this  church  by  professional  evan- 
gelists for  ten  years.  Formerly,  this  was  a 
favorite  method.  Such  distinguished  evan- 
gelists as  Moody  and  Sankey,  and  Majors 
Cole  and  Whittle  have  conducted  meetings 
in  the  Du  Page  Church.  And  these  were 
successful  too.  But  there  is  not  another 
ten  year  period  in  the  history  of  the  church 
that  shows  as  many  accessions  as  the  last 
decade. 

The  one  by  one  method  as  illustrated 
by  the  Master  and  by  Andrew  and  Philip, 
has  been  used.  A  great  deal  of  the  evan- 
gelistic work  is  done  through  the  Sunday- 
school.  Every  class  is  a  personal  work 
class.  The  teachers  are  encouraged  to  lead 
their  pupils  in  personal  work. 

Great  care  is  taken  to  press  the  claims 
of  Christ  and  the  church  upon  the  young. 
The  parents  co-operate  with  the  pastor  in 
this  work  of  dealing  with  the  young.  This 
is  done  through  pastoral  visitation  and 
through  pastoral  letters.  Occasional  ser- 
mons are  preached  to  the  children,  and  a 
Christian  training-class  is  conducted  for 
those  who  are  about  to  enter  the  church. 
There  have  been  few  communion  services 
when  there  was  not  somebody  to  unite  with 

22 


the  church,  and  between  communion  sea- 
sons members  have  been  received.  There 
is  scarcely  a  person  in  the  parish  between 
the  ages  of  ten  and  twenty-one  years  of  age 
who  is  not  a  member  of  the  church. 

This  church  has  learned  the  value  of 
inspirational  meetings.  Two  principal  ones 
are  held  each  year.  One  takes  place  on 
New-year's  eve,  when  the  whole  com- 
munity, old  and  young,  gather  at  the 
church  as  one  family  to  watch  the  old  year 
die  and  to  welcome  in  the  new.  This  is 
no  common  "watch  service."  The  even- 
ing is  planned  to  overflow  with  good  and 
interesting  things. 

The  other  great  inspirational  meeting  is 
held  at  the  close  of  the  church  year.  It 
is  an  all-day  meeting,  and  the  whole  coun- 
tryside turn  out  to  help  round  up  the  year's 
work.  The  ladies  serve  a  banquet  at  noon, 
free  of  charge.  There  is  always  good  music 
on  the  occasions  and  two  or  three  good 
participants  from  outside  supplement  the 
home  talent.  These  big  meetings  are  a 
great  uplift  to  the  country  people.  They 
promote  friendship  and  good  fellowship, 
and  the  dead-level  gait  always  receives  a 
severe  jolt. 

Other  inspirational  meetings  are  held 
for  particular  organizations  in  the  church. 
The  Young  Men's  Bible  Class  held  one  not 

23 


long  since,  attended  by  one  hundred  young 
men. 

Eventually  this  church  outgrew  the  old 
building,  and  it  rose  up  and  erected  a  new 
one,  costing,  including  furnishings,  $10,000 
in  money  and  the  equivalent  of  another 
thousand  in  hauling  which  the  farmers  did 
gratis.  Practically  all  the  money  was  sub- 
scribed before  a  shovelful  of  earth  was 
moved  for  the  foundation.  No  offering  was 
taken  at  the  dedication  for  building  pur- 
poses or  for  furnishings.  Every  person  in 
the  community  was  given  opportunity  .to 
help  build  the  new  church.  And  all  re- 
sponded heartily.  The  Catholics  and  Ger- 
man Lutherans  contributed  to  the  building 
fund  and  helped  to  haul  the  materials. 

The  new  structure  is  Gothic  in  design 
and  is  built  of  brick.  The  interior  is  fin- 
ished in  red  oak.  A  handsome  fresco  in 
water-colors  adorns  the  walls,  with  panels 
of  burlap  below  the  surbase  molding.  This 
with  the  beautiful  art  glass  windows  gives 
the  interior  a  most  pleasing  and  homelike 
appearance.  The  floors  are  covered  with 
cork  carpet.  The  main  auditorium  has  a 
bowl-shaped  floor  and  seats  three  hundred 
people.  The  assembly-room  of  the  Sun- 
day-school apartment,  which  is  separated, 
from  the  auditorium  by  accordion  doors, 
has   an   additional   one   hundred    and   fifty 

24 


sittings.  There  are  fourteen  rooms  in  all, 
including  a  number  of  classrooms,  choir  and 
cloak  rooms,  toilet,  pastor's  study,  vesti- 
bule, kitchen,  dinjing-hall,  cistern,  and 
furnace  and  fuel  rooms.  The  building  is 
heated  with  hot  air  furnaces  and  lighted 
with  gas.  A  system  of  water-works  sup- 
plies water  wherever  needed  about  the 
building. 

A  library  has  been  started  which  al- 
ready has  a  thousand  volumes.  It  is  pur- 
posed to  put  in  a  line  of  reference  books.  A 
number  of  study  courses  are  being  planned 
in  scientific  agriculture,  civil  government, 
sociology,  nature  study,  and  domestic 
science. 

There  is  a  prevalent  idea  among  the 
country  people  that  the  young  folks  must 
go  away  from  home  to  get  an  education. 
When  they  get  it  they  seldom  come  back 
to  the  farm.  A  very  large  per  cent,  of  the 
country  boys  and  girls  never  complete  the 
eighth  grade  in  the  common  schools.  They 
think  their  opportunity  for  getting  an  edu- 
cation is  past  when  they  leave  the  pub- 
lic school  to  work  on  the  farm,  if  they  think 
about  it  at  all.  We  are  seeking  to  revive 
the  "fireside  university"  and  to  teach  the 
country  people  the  possibilities  of  home 
study.  It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  church, 
in    doing   this,     to  become   a     knowledge- 

25 


imparting  institution,  but  rather  to  create 
an  atmosphere  of  research  in  the  commu- 
nity, to  foster  the  spirit  of  inquiry  and 
investigation  cf  truth,  and  to  afford  oc- 
casion and  opportunity  for  such  investiga- 
tion 

To  sum  up  the  principles  underlying 
these  methods :  Make  the  church  a  minis- 
tering institution.  Let  it  be  many-sided. 
Let  it  seek  to  serve  the  whole  man,  body, 
mind,  and  spirit,  rather  than  the  spirit 
alone.  Let  it  seek  to  make  this  a  new  earth 
by  teaching  the  people  to  do  all  things  to 
the  glory  of  God.  Let  them  know  that 
honest  toil  is  sacred,  that  innocent  amuse- 
ment is  holy,  and  that  these  are  also  ways 
of  praising  and  glorifying  God  as  well  as 
the  Sunday  devotions.  Let  the  church 
seek  to  discover  to  men  their  talents,  and 
then  encourage  and  help  them  in  their  de- 
velopment. Distribute  the  responsibilities 
as  widely  as  capacity  for  efficiency  will 
warrant.  Lead  everybody  into  doing  some- 
thing useful  for  somebody  else.  Make  the 
church  to  minister  to  the  whole  community 
rather  than  to  a  particular  body  in  the 
community,  the  aim  being,  not  to  make 
Presbyterians  or  Baptists  or  Methodists 
or  Catholics,  but  to  create  an  atmosphere 
in  the  neighborhood  to  breathe  in,  which 
will  help  Presbyterians  to  be  better  Presby- 

26 


terians,  Baptists  better  Baptists,  Metho- 
dists better  Methodists,  Catholics  better 
Catholics,  and  all  better  men  and  women, 
— an  atmosphere  that  will  inspire  to  higher 
thinking  and  nobler  living. 

Let  there  be  as  much  preaching  of  the 
gospel  as  ever — and  more — for  the  gospel 
of  Christ  is  still  "the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth," 
but  let  there  be  more  of  the  spirit  of  Christ 
in  ministering  to  men.  Make  it  easy  for 
people  to  do  right,  and  as  hard  as  possible 
for  them  to  do  wrong. 

There  is  plenty  of  good  solid  work  to  be 
done  in  the  country  church.  "The  har- 
vest truly  is  plenteous  but  the  laborers  are 
few."  It  is  astonishing  how  few  men  the 
Lord  seems  to  be  calling  to  our  country 
churches.  I  say  it  reverently.  How  many 
ministers  are  preaching  in  the  country 
churches  because  they  love  the  work  and 
realize  its  importance?  Too  few.  A  great 
many  ministers  are  staying  in  the  rural 
churches  not  from  choice,  but  from  force 
of  circumstances.  They  are  old  and  almost 
worn  out,  or  they  are  sick,  or  have  missed 
their  calling  and  imagine  the  country  folk 
will  not  know  it,  or  if  they  are  young  they 
feel  too  inexperienced  to  tackle  a  city 
church.  So  they  practise  awhile  on  the 
farmers  until  they  learn  their  business  and 

27 


the  Lord  calls  them  to  a  larger  (?)  sphere 
of  usefulness  in  some  city. 

The  country  needs  ministers  of  strength 
and  vigor  in  body  and  mind,  who  choose 
the  rural  work  first  of  all  because  of  its 
importance  and  because  of  the  great  need, 
and  who  come  determined  to  stay  it 
through. 

Here  is  a  work  that  calls  for  dauntless 
courage,  the  brightest  talents,  and  the 
most  heroic  and  self-sacrificing  spirits.  Let 
no  minister  of  the  gospel  be  afraid  or 
ashamed  to  take  charge  of  a  country  church 
and  "be  buried  from  the  world,"  as  some 
have  put  it. 

And  if  any  one  undertakes  such  a  work, 
let  him  stick  to  it.  The  hope  of  the  country 
church  is  the  long  pastorate.  And  let  no 
one  engaged  in  this  work  be  keeping  his 
head  up  in  the  air  all  the  time,  looking 
around  for  a  bigger  place.  The  chances 
are  the  man  who  does  that  is  not  big  enough 
to  fill  the  place  he  has.  Magnify  the  work ! 
Make  of  the  little  church  a  big  church, — 
large  in  helpful  ministries,  great  in  discov- 
ering and  utilizing  opportunities  for  ser- 
vice, wonderful  in  seeing  and  realizing  the 
possibilities  of  country  life.  Whoever  does 
this  will  be  doing  one  of  the  noblest  and  one 
of  the  most  needed  services  for  his  country 
and  for  mankind. 

28 


Colonel  Roosevelt  has  well  said:  "In 
the  last  analysis  the  man  on  the  farm  is  the 
man  upon  whom  our  whole  civilizaton 
rests.  The  growth  and  progress  of  the 
country  depends  upon  him.  I  want  to  see 
conditions  kept  favorable  for  him  and  for 
his  wife." 

Does  a  mother  feel  that  her  sphere  is 
narrow  or  that  her  work  is  in  vain  when  she 
rears  noble  sons  and  daughters  for  her 
country?  It  is  the  supreme  prerogative  of 
the  country  minister  to  shape  the  early 
lives  of  presidents,  statesmen,  preachers, 
teachers,  missionaries,  and  business  men, 
and  to  conserve  the  physical  strength  and 
the  moral  and  intellectual  vigor  of  the 
whole  human  race  by  leading  the  country 
people  in  truth  and  righteousness,  and  it  is 
one  of  the  biggest  businesses  on  earth. 


29 


*&& 


S> 


